Tall ship to be built in SF in 19th century style

History

Published 4:00 am, Monday, June 11, 2012

Alan Olson, executive director of the nonprofit - Educational Tall Ships, points the plans for his newest tall ship project called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif.

Alan Olson, executive director of the nonprofit - Educational Tall Ships, points the plans for his newest tall ship project called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif.

Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle

Image 2 of 4

Members the nonprofit Educational Tall Ships, Chris Burke, Kim Kouri and Sam Schow work together the map out the beginnings of a new tall ship called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif. The group expects the process of building ship to take 18 months. less

Members the nonprofit Educational Tall Ships, Chris Burke, Kim Kouri and Sam Schow work together the map out the beginnings of a new tall ship called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif. ... more

Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle

Image 3 of 4

Members the nonprofit Educational Tall Ships, Chris Burke, Alan Olson and Sam Schow work together the map out the beginnings of a new tall ship called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif. The group expects the process of building ship to take 18 months. less

Members the nonprofit Educational Tall Ships, Chris Burke, Alan Olson and Sam Schow work together the map out the beginnings of a new tall ship called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif. ... more

Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle

Image 4 of 4

Members the nonprofit Educational Tall Ships, Chris Burke and Sam Schow work together the map out the beginnings of a new tall ship called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif. The group expects the process of building ship to take 18 months. less

Members the nonprofit Educational Tall Ships, Chris Burke and Sam Schow work together the map out the beginnings of a new tall ship called a Brigantine on Wednesday June 6, 2012 in Sausalito, Calif. The group ... more

Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle

Tall ship to be built in SF in 19th century style

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

Alan Olson walked around in his stocking feet on top of drafting paper laid out across the floor of a Sausalito warehouse and sounded like the sea captain he is as he explained the nuances of the sailing vessel of his dreams.

Olson, the director of the nonprofit group Educational Tall Ship for San Francisco Bay, is in charge of an innovative, $5 million project to build a duplicate of the kind of wooden sailing ships that were constructed in the Bay Area by 19th century shipbuilder Matthew Turner.

Olson, 70, of Mill Valley and his helpers were carefully laying down plywood boards shaped to the exact dimensions of the 42 vertebrae that will make up the framework of the ship, the first stage of the design-and-build process.

Latest news videos

"This is what it will look like when it is finished," said Olson, pointing to a painting of an old-time ship with myriad flapping sails reaching to the sky. "It can be used in the ocean and along the coast. They are fast because of the power of the sails."

Students, volunteers help

The classic, 130-foot sailing vessel, called a brigantine, will be built from scratch over 18 to 21 months with help from students and volunteer carpenters and then sailed and maintained by Bay Area youngsters, who will use it as a kind of industrial arts and maritime history classroom.

Olson, a longtime sailor and boat builder, said he is now negotiating with the Port of San Francisco for a waterfront site in Mission Bay to both build the ship and dock it when it is completed. Several other possible waterfront sites, including Richmond and Sausalito, are being looked at in case San Francisco doesn't work out, he said.

The plan is to design, build and rig the ship using the same material and methods that Turner used to build his ships. Turner built 228 vessels, including brigs, yachts, South Seas packets and schooners, between 1864 and 1907, making him the most prolific sailing shipbuilder in American history.

The entire ship, including the hull, planking and decking will be built out of Douglas fir, the same kind of wood that was used 150 years ago.

‌

Carbon neutral

The difference is that Turner built his ships using timber from the vast old-growth forests that once covered California and were virtually wiped out to build San Francisco and the other cities of the West Coast. The Tall Ship group will be using wood donated by the nonprofit Conservation Fund, which uses carbon-neutral logging practices on a sustainably managed forest next to Big River, in Mendocino County, which has been saved from development.

The result will be the first fully carbon-neutral sailing vessel of its size in the world.

The tall ship won't be the only wooden sailing vessel built in the old style by ship aficionados - a Spanish galleon is being built in San Diego - but Olson said it will be the only large brigantine ship with clear San Francisco roots built with sustainable products specifically for educational uses.

Modern features

Olson said some 21st century features will be used, including an innovative propulsion system that will use rushing water to create electricity to power the backup generator. An electric motor will also be attached, something the Coast Guard insists upon.

The blueprints, though, are straight out of the Matthew Turner school of boat-building. A ship captain, Turner was able to purchase his own vessel using the money he made mining during the Gold Rush and eventually became a cod-fishing entrepreneur and sugar and tropical produce tradesman. He designed his first vessel in an attempt to improve speed and efficiency of trade ships plying the capricious winds and rough weather conditions unique to the Pacific Ocean. His innovative designs and Bermudian sail system proved effective, and his skills were soon in great demand.

Famed vessels

Turner's shipyard, in what is now San Francisco's Mission Bay area, produced an average of one launch a month for eight years starting in 1875. One boat, the Equator, was commissioned for famous author Robert Louis Stevenson. Another, the Lurline, won three of the first four Los Angeles to Hawaii Trans Pacific Yacht races.

Speed was what made his sailboat, Galilee, famous. It made the run from San Francisco to Papeete, on the island of Tahiti, in 22 days, a record that still stands. Turner moved his shipyard to Benicia in 1883.

Olson chose the Galilee as the model for his ship. The students who build it over the next two years will be recruited from local schools, churches, youth organizations, science and sailing programs, he said, and will be supervised by workers from Tri-Coastal Marine, a company that specializes in boat building and design.

"We are not only hoping to stir some interest in the history of Matthew Turner, but to preserve and revitalize the rich maritime history of the San Francisco Bay," he said.

The group has raised $1.25 million in cash and donations of lumber, enough to begin framing the ship. Olson said the nonprofit hopes to raise the rest of the $3.75 million once word gets out and the project gains momentum.

When it is completed in 2014, Olson said his other nonprofit, Call of the Sea, will organize sailing trips and educational programs for up to 80 passengers, 40 of whom can stay overnight.

"There are a million kids in the Bay Area who could take advantage of this instead of staring into their electronic equipment," he said. "By getting them in touch with the natural world instead of the virtual world, we can make a real difference in their lives."

Learn more

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.